Andrew Green
There’s something otherworldly about Debussy’s ravishing masterpiece Pelléas et Mélisande that feels right for Wormsley Park, the Getty family estate which Garsington Opera calls home every summer. Just 40 miles from busy central London, the dreamy pastoral surroundings could be a million miles away. With its luminously glazed theatre-pavilion perched between forest and lake, the setting seems made for an opera in which space, light and water are practically characters in the story.
Garsington’s production of Pelléas is full of ‘firsts’. Debussy’s opera, conducted by Jac van Steen, sees the Philharmonia Orchestra’s debut in its new association with the festival. Also first-timers at Garsington are the young American soprano Andrea Carroll (Mélisande) and British baritone Jonathan McGovern (Pelléas), both enjoying increasing attention internationally.